Acceptance and Attitude of Parents Regarding COVID-19 Vaccine for Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has claimed millions of lives worldwide. India also launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive, and clinical trials for a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine are in development. Objectives The study aims to assess the acceptance and attitude of parents regarding the COVID-19 vaccine for children in India. The study also aims to find the association between selected demographic variables and acceptance and attitudes in parents regarding the COVID-19 vaccine for children. Materials and methods We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study with 204 participants, and data were collected online using Google Forms. The study participants were parents of children aged two to 15 years. A self-structured tool was used to assess parents' acceptance regarding vaccinating their children, and a modified vaccination attitudes examination scale was used to assess parents' attitudes toward pediatric vaccination against COVID-19. We used IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York) to analyze the data. Demographic data were represented as frequency and percentage. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associations between sociodemographic data and parents' levels of acceptance and attitude. For all the data, p<0.05 was considered significant. Results The majority of the participants (85%) reported acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine for children. More than 80% of parents agree that vaccines are essential to halt the COVID-19 pandemic and are mandatory for children. Most parents (62%) also believed that complementary medicine is better than vaccines for children. While most parents (95%) reported trusting the vaccine, but more than half (59%) reported concerns regarding the unknown future effects of the vaccine. Mothers (odds ratio (OR), 2.963; p=0.015) and parents of children who received routine vaccination (OR, 0.175; p=0.039) were willing to vaccinate their children when a COVID-19 vaccine became available. Mothers (OR, 3.294; p=0.002) and respondents whose family member or close relative suffered from COVID-19 (OR, 0.420; p=0.029) accepted the COVID-19 vaccine irrespective of the child's age. Study participants who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 (OR, 0.275; p=0.012) believed vaccines for children were necessary to halt the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion We sought to assess parents' acceptance and attitudes regarding the COVID-19 vaccine for children in India. According to our results, while parents have a high acceptance of a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, they also have a few apprehensions. Therefore, for a successful mass vaccination drive among the pediatric age group, there should be rigorous communication regarding the vaccine and staunch health campaigns to create more awareness and acceptance toward the COVID-19 vaccine for children.